User blog comment:Brigadier Barty/In the Wake of the Red Ship/@comment-26538658-20151127002536/@comment-3135907-20151202195655

'Tis a big leap from animals bein' sized to fit more human dimensions to kestrels wielding swords, izzenit?

Birds receive this same size-change in the books. They go from being small flittery beings to large, formidable denizens of the skies.

But what they do not undergo in the books is a shifting of their skeletal structure. They have the same build as with their real world counterparts. Which means they can't use a sword. It's impossible. A bird could hold one in its talons, but that's about it. It wouldn't possess the ability to perform any maneuvers or techniques of any kind found in sword combat.

(The sparra once stole the Sword of Martin, yes, but it was for the reason real world birds steal metal objects of that quality: it's shiny and makes a good piece in the King Bull's collection).

I'm a historical sword combat instructor. Having a short sword in his possession is one thing- listing it as something he uses as a weapon is entirely another, wot. The latter of which is not physically possible.